investors around the world will ask if the united states of america is, in fact, a safe bet. markets could go haywire, interest rates would spike for anybody who borrows money, every homeowner with a mortgage, every student with a college loan, every small business owner who wants to grow and hire. it would be a self-inflicted wound on the economy. it would slow down our growth. might tip us into recession. and ironically, would probably increase our deficit. so to even entertain the idea of this happening, of the united states of america not paying its bills, is irresponsible. it's absurd. as the speaker said two years ago, it would be, and i'm quoting, speaker boehner now, a financial disaster not only for us but for the worldwide economy. so we've got to pay our bills. and republicans in congress have two choices here, they can act responsibly and pay america's bills or they can act irresponsibly and put america through another economic crisis. but they will not collect a ransom in exchange for not crashing the american economy. the financial well being of the american peo